Real Wedding: Jessica & Samuel

Jessica and Sam met at the University of Virginia, but it wasn’t until Jessica (a Florida native) was midway through medical school and Sam (from Virginia) was finished with graduate school that the two made a connection.

“Sam called me one day, out of the blue, to ask if I was in Tampa—which I was—and asked if he could spend a night on my couch while driving through from graduate school in Texas to his first job in Miami,” Jessica recalls.

“He ended up staying a few days and came back to Tampa at his next opportunity. We knew right away, this was it.” Six months later, they rescued a puppy they named Jefferson, who, two and one-half years later, helped Sam propose by presenting the engagement ring on his collar.

THE WEDDING

To kick off their wedding weekend, the bride and groom threw a welcome party at Jessica’s parent’s home in Deer Valley.

“We had friends and family flying in from around the country,” Jessica says. The couple held a rehearsal dinner at High West Distillery the night prior, while Montage’s manicured Grand Lawn hosted the big celebration overlooking a vibrantly green mountainside.

THE THEME

No question, the couples’ Southern roots influenced every debonair detail from classic fashion to flowers displaying a fresh summertime palette of poppy, pink, peaches and cream.

The wedding aisle showcased men in tailored tuxes and bridesmaids in mint-colored, floor-length gowns. Even the couple’s dog, Jefferson, wore a “tuxedo.”